Go-to Meal

So this is my go-to meal. It's a Mediterranean(ish) salad thats super easy to make. I especially like it because it's healthy and you can eat it for a few days if you make a big batch.
Ingredients:
1 cup bulgar wheat
1 container grape tomatoes
1 cucumber
italian parsley
feta cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 lemon
black pepper
kosher salt

First cook the wheat according to the package directions. Then set aside and let cool.
While it is cooking, cut up the tomatoes, cucumber, and parsley (there is no specific amount of parsley to use, I usually just cut up one bunch and use that). Mix the vegetables and grains together with the olive oil and add vinegar (usually just a few drops) and lemon juice to taste. Then mix in as much feta as you want and add salt and pepper to taste.

Earl Grey Ice Cream with Lavender Whipped Cream

This earl grey ice cream recipe is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The lavender whipped cream pairs really well with it making for a desert that's fresh and fragrant and not too sweet.

Ice Cream (base adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home)
2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn starch
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup earl grey tea leaves (or 8-10 tea bags - Twinning's brand works well)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 ounces of cream cheese

In a small bowl, whisk together the corn starch with 2 tablespoons of the milk and set aside.
In a large saucepan, mix the milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Cook for 4 minutes exactly and then remove from heat. Put in the tea and let steep for 10 minutes.
Strain and then add the cornstarch mixture gradually to the pan and bring back to a boil for 1 minute.
Mix the cream mixture into the cream cheese gradually to avoid lumps.
Refrigerate over night or place in a zip lock bag in an ice bath for 30 minutes.
Pour the chilled base into ice cream machine and freeze for about 25 minutes. Ice cream will be ready when it starts to pull away from the sides of the machine. Transfer to storage container and freeze for about 4 hours or until firm.

Whipped Cream1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried lavender

Heat the cream in small saucepan with dried lavender only bringing to a simmer. Keep on heat for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Strain and discard lavender. Chill mixture for about two hours until cold. Whip in a chilled metal mixing bowl (preferably with an electric mixer) until peaks form. Serve immediately.

*Sidenote: if it's too cold for you to enjoy ice cream at the moment, I highly recommend trying lavender hot chocolate. It's delicious (if you like lavender, which I'll admit is probably an acquired taste) and super easy! Just heat a half teaspoon of dried lavender flowers with milk in the microwave for about 1 minute, strain and then prepare your hot chocolate as usual with the lavender milk.

You Gotta Make This Soup.

This is my favorite lunch/dinner recipe of the moment. It's super delicious Chicken & Orzo Soup from Jenny Rosenstrach's book Dinner: A Love Story. I highly recommend this book, it makes it look like you know how to cook :). I also recently discovered that this book is based off of a blog so there's a whole bunch of recipes over there as well.
Here's a link to the recipe online.

Ginger Cookies with Caramel Creme Filling

So this week we've got a recipe for ginger sandwich cookies with a salted caramel creme filling (which was a result of having loads
of leftover caramel sauce after making this pie for thanksgiving).

First I made the filling and stored it in the refrigerator. For that you'll need:
1-2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 stick of butter
4 ounces cream cheese
Caramel sauce, recipe here

So, this isn't an exact recipe as you can probably tell. I started out with mixing the cup of sugar and butter and then added
cream cheese and caramel sauce until the filling got to the consistency and flavor that I wanted. 

As for the cookies, I used a great recipe from the book Big Fat Cookies by Eleanor Klivans. The cookie recipe can be found here.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash with Sautéed Garlic & Tomatoes

This week's recipe is one of my favorite meals to prepare (especially since I have semi-limited cooking skills). I kind of live off of spaghetti 
squash. Well at least I have been ever since my aunt introduced me to it a few weeks ago. It's super easy and tastes really good for an
entirely vegetable based meal!

You'll need:
1 Spaghetti Squash
Grape Tomatoes
Garlic (3-4 cloves)
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Olive Oil
Red WIne Vinegar
Parsley
Parmesan Cheese (optional)

To start, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Then, cut the squash lengthwise and scoop out all of the seeds. Place the squash facedown on a
baking pan with olive oil in the bottom and roast for 40 minutes. While waiting for the squash to cool a bit. Start on the tomatoes/garlic mixture.

In a pan with about 1-2 tsp of olive oil, put garlic (that has been crushed with a garlic press) and a little salt into the pan. Cook until a little brown.
Then add tomatoes and a little red wine vinegar and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Mix together with squash and top with parsley and cheese.

Candy Corn Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats

Earlier this week I was craving candy corn (as one does in late October) so I decided to whip up these rice crispy treats.
They turned out amazingly well thanks to a tip I learned the night before from a baker I met at a party. All you gotta do
is brown the butter. Yep, just let the butter cook a little while longer after it has melted and has turned a nice golden
toasty brown color and starts to fill the kitchen with a nutty aroma. As for the rest of the instructions:

Ingredients:
4 cups rice krispie cereal
1 10 oz. bag marshmallows
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
candy corn

Instructions:
Melt the butter until toasty brown (as mentioned above). There is probably a technically correct way to do this but just waiting
until it was brown and smells nutty (not burnt) worked for me. After the butter is browned, mix in the marshmallows, vanilla, and
salt and stir until they are all blended together and the marshmallows are melted completely. Then mix in the rice cereal and
candy corn. You can add as much or as little candy corn as you'd like (I probably used about 3/4 cup). Spread the mixture
out in a flat pan that is greased or covered in parchment paper. Let cool for 20-30 minutes and then cut and serve. 

Salty Caramel Oatmeal Cookie Bars

This past weekend was kinda cool and rainy (a rare occurrence here in Phoenix). Along with the fall-like weather came the desire
to forego my usual summery recipes, i.e. salads, popsicles, and ice cream, and opt for something a little richer. These flaky
oatmeal cookie bars paired with gooey salted caramel fit the bill. 

Spiced Honey Ice Cream with Raspberries

Crispy Goat Cheese Salad Toppers

I learned to make these while vacationing in Washington this summer from my cousin Jenny. I think it is an alternate version of this recipe. For some reason it had never occurred to me to make this, but apparently fried cheese on salad is pretty common. It's kinda like a crouton but mostly like a crispy cheesy thing so inevitably it's super delicious.